The first thing Chloe & Michael decided upon for their wedding was the venue. They picked Nonsuch Mansion, in the heart of Nonsuch Park, as it held great sentimental meaning to them. They’d spent a lot of time there thoughout their relationship and so having the wedding there made total sense. “The mansion is built on the site of Henry VIII’s long gone Nonsuch Palace and is located in the middle of a huge park that we live within a few minutes walk of,” Chloe explained. “The park is very important to us and we spend lots of time in there, running, walking, picking berries, lazing in the sun with a beer etc when the seasons are right! In fact, it was lazing in the shade of a tree just by the mansion on a sunny afternoon when we first said ‘I love you’ – so it’s a pretty special place. Choosing the venue really was a no-brainer for us!”
In fact from the off, the venue defined style of the day, “As the venue was so close to our hearts, it was an easy choice to make and we had it booked within 10 days of getting engaged” she continued. “From that moment on, everything else was a slow evolution of ideas, a work in progress to the very end! We just rolled with it… if we liked an idea, we’d try it out. If it worked, great! If it didn’t, we’d come up with something else! Our motto – Don’t give in to the norms (unless that’s what you want, of course), keep banging on with your ideas and give everything a go!”
“Great sources of inspiration for us were the location and park itself, our love of food (and cheese!), places we’d traveled and our story as a couple. If we only had one set idea of how our wedding should be, it was that it be easy and a real celebration of love!”
Wherever possible the couple made things themselves. These included the table decorations (loving the mini vegetable’s acting as place names!), the jam favours and the fingerprint guest ‘tree’ (made by the bride’s dad). “We tried to keep things pretty simple. The location was beautiful just as it was and the rooms really spoke for themselves. We decided to go for little touches that said something about us that everyone would recognise. So the venue provided a beautiful backdrop and took care of the food and the booze – everything else that went into the place was handmade, collected, created or thrown together by us, with help from our family and friends. Something that we had so much fun doing and that we’re really proud of.”
The bride wore ‘Gatsby’ by Maggie Sottero, which she managed to pick up for a fraction of the price on Sell My Wedding Dress. Isn’t it perfect for her? I love how it shows of her amazing back piece! “I loved the Gatsby dress… but not so much the price! When I caught sight of a second hand one for sale, in my size and the perfect colour – I knew it was meant to be! It was also ¼ of the price of exactly the same thing brand new. A few special alterations later and I had my perfect dress! Saving on the dress meant I could splash out on the shoes which I bought from Irregular Choice. I LOVE my shoes and they will be getting plenty of wear after the wedding as well.”
